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MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Meeting in Saudi Arabia, the defense ministers of Lebanon and Syria signed an agreement today on border demarcation between their countries and pledged to increase security coordination along the border. The agreements follow clashes in border areas earlier this month in which several people were killed and dozens of others were wounded. [more]
• Reports say Israel carried out a limited airstrike today on a building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, claiming that the structure was being used by the Hezbollah militant group. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1128 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Amidst ongoing and varied cease-fire proposals and related negotiations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should be replaced by a temporary administration that would end the war and hold elections. [more]
• Reports say a leaked copy of a U.S. proposal for a minerals deal with Ukraine suggests that all resource income should go to the U.S. until wartime aid to Kyiv is fully repaid. [more]

U.S. FEDERAL WORKFORCE | An executive order signed by President Donald Trump last night aims to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions, including the Departments of State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Health and Human Services, Treasury, Justice, and Commerce, as well as parts of Homeland Security. The American Federation of Government Employees – the union that represents some 820,000 federal workers – says it is preparing immediate legal action to protect its workers' rights. Reports note that a White House fact sheet on the executive order claims that “certain federal unions have “declared war on President Trump’s agenda” and that he will not “let union obstruction interfere with his efforts to protect Americans and our national interests.” [full executive order] [White House fact sheet] [more]

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION | President Donald Trump issued an executive order yesterday aimed at reforming the Smithsonian Institution, saying there has been a “concerted and widespread” effort over the past decade to rewrite American history by replacing “objective facts” with a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth,” and ordering “improper ideology” removed from all areas of the Institution, including its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo. [full executive order] [more]

U.S. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY | A federal judge yesterday ordered the Trump administration to preserve records of a text message chat in which senior national security officials discussed sensitive details of plans for a U.S. military strike against Yemen’s Houthis and on which Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic was included. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed this week that seeks to ensure the records are kept in accordance with the Federal Records Act. [more]

U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES | HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced yesterday that his department plans to lay off 10,000 workers and shut down several subordinate agencies as part of restructuring efforts to save money and refocus department efforts toward fighting chronic diseases. Reports note that the largest number of cuts will take place within the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s latest long-term economic outlook and budget report suggests that overall U.S. economic growth over the next 30 years will slow due to weak population gains and increased government spending. [more]

U.S. AMABASSADOR TO THE U.N. | President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he was pulling Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The move comes amidst House Republican concerns over holding their slim majority ahead of two special elections in Florida next week. [more]

U.S., GREENLAND, AND RUSSIA | U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, along with other U.S. officials, are scheduled to visit a U.S. military base in Greenland today amidst ongoing tensions over President Donald Trump’s repeated suggestion that the U.S. should take control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory. Speaking at a policy forum in the Arctic port of Murmansk yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed concern about U.S. and NATO activities in the Arctic and said Russia will respond to such moves by strengthening its military capabilities in the polar region. [more]

U.S. AND CANADA | Amidst ongoing political, trade, and tariff tensions, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said yesterday that he and U.S. President Donald Trump are planning to speak with each other for the first time in the coming days. The announcement came as Carney declared that Canada’s “old relationship” with America, based on close economic ties and security co-operation, was “over”. [more]

ARCTIC CLIMATE | According to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center, Arctic sea ice likely reached its maximum extent for the year on March 22 at 14.33 million square kilometers – the lowest maximum level seen in the 47-year satellite record. Researchers suggest that warming temperatures are likely responsible for the ice level decline. [press release] [more]

MYANMAR AND THAILAND | A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar this morning, prompting the declaration of a widespread state of emergency, downing bridges and power lines, and causing the collapse of a high-rise building in Bangkok in neighboring Thailand. Reports say damage and casualty assessments are still underway, though emergency workers have suggested there are hundreds of deaths related to the quake. [more]

SOUTH CHINA SEA | Reuters cites satellite imagery as showing that China deployed two long-range H-6 bombers to areas around the disputed Scarborough Shoal this week – a move analysts suggest is asserting sovereignty over the region, which is also claimed by the Philippines. [more]

CONGO | Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo threatened yesterday to expand their military offensive into additional provinces, according to U.N. special representative for Congo Bintou Keita. [more]

INDIA | Authorities in India-controlled Kashmir say at least four police officers and three suspected militants were killed today in a protracted gunbattle in the Jammu region’s southern Kathua district. [more]

AUSTRALIA | Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today that Australia will hold general elections on May 3. Analysts say high costs of living and housing shortages are among the issues likely to weigh heavily in the election. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1930, Istanbul – built as Byzantium about 657 bce, then renamed Constantinople in the 4th century ce after Constantine the Great made the city his capital – officially received its current name by mandate of the Turkish government.   [more history]